1. Field
This invention relates to the field of hand held tools, particularly those which are relatively complicated assemblies. Still more particularly, it is in the field of tool assemblies which use or are used with various compounds such as paints or mastic materials used in the drywall construction industry and termed mud.
2. Prior Art
The prior art to the subject invention is tools used in the drywall construction industry. Such tools require considerable handling and, when indicated, cleaning to provide optimum performance of the tools. The direct prior art to the subject invention is the tool called an angle head, as manufactured by the Concorde Tool Corp. in Surrey, B.C., Canada and Ames Drywall Systems, Inc. in the United States. Angle heads are used to smooth mud applied on corner joints between drywall panels. To adequately accommodate the slight variations in the angles between the panels the frames of the angle head assembly are especially hinged at the center of the working faces of the tool, the center fitting exactly into the corners between panels. Even slight interference with the hinged connection can degrade the quality of the work done with the angle head. Accumulations of small amounts of mud in the mechanism can cause such interference, making it necessary to clear out the accumulations. In the commercially available angle heads such cleaning is difficult without disassembling the tool to some extent. Such disassembly takes time and considerable manual dexterity and experience shows that the loose parts and fasteners can easily be lost or misplaced, especially in work areas. Accordingly, the prime objective of the subject invention is to provide an angle head with improved accessibility to parts and space is which frequently require cleaning. A second objective is that the accessibility be provided without involving any loose parts or fasteners.